Greening Mommyhood

Disposable Diaper Facts from Cottonbabies website:
One baby in disposable diapers can contribute 1 ton of waste to the landfill!
Disposable diapers are the 3rd most common consumer product found in landfills today!
Disposable diapers can take up to 500 years to decompose!
You can expect to pay $1,500-$2,000 on disposable diapers on one child!

I am embarrassed that it has taken me this long, but I am finally about to embark on the adventures of cloth diapering!! For now I'll blame it on my lack of time, trying to juggle 3 businesses and being a full time mom. I had heard that they don't work very well for very small newborns, so I was waiting until my little guy got a bit bigger. But, I have one big boy and there are no more excuses. I have done so much research online over the past months, since before my baby was born, but finally decided to just take the plunge, buy a few kinds, and see what works best for me/him.

I was pretty overwhelmed by all the options out there. Just try Google-ing "cloth diapers" and you'll see what I mean. There are so many kinds with mostly good reviews, some mixed. But, it's pretty obvious that cloth diapers have come a LONG way since the days of complex cloth origami, sharp diaper pins, and rubber pants! You can even get cloth diapers that are basically a cloth, re-useable version of disposable designs:


These ones (above) are made by Bum Genius. The all in one's can get pretty pricey for one diaper, but there are a lot of similar ones out there, and also just the outer "wraps" that go over the cloth diapers which will save a little $. It seems like many moms use a combination of these.

The folks at G Diapers have come up with a pretty cool "hybrid" diaper system, which features a re-useable cloth wrap over a disposable insert. These are not the disposables you're thinking of though...their inserts have no plastic and completely decompose. They encourage you to toss or flush the inserts...even compost them! While the kit I ordered comes with some of these, I would like to try filling them with cloth diapers like a friend who recommended them does. They are just plain cute besides!

Anyway, I have my first few kinds of diapers on the way in the mail now, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes! In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on cloth diapering if you've done it, as I am a total newbie! :-)